Literature Chapter 9 - The Bond Of Love

Written by Kenneth Anderson, “The Bond of Love” depicts the story of the emotional connection that exists between human beings and animals. The bear and the wife of the narrator share a deep bond of affection and they become inseparable. It indicates that animals do have feelings and are capable of reciprocating the same love as a human being, which is accompanied with warmth and affection.

Summary 

“The Bond of Love” displays the emotional bond that is shared between the narrator’s wife and Bruno, who is their pet bear. The narrator found and brought the bear as a present for his wife. She treated the bear as her child and named him Bruno. The wife of the narrator fed the bear milk with a bottle, just like how a mother would feed her newborn baby. Bruno loved drinking and eating everything. Bruno was attached to everyone; which includes the children of the tenants and their Alsatian pet dogs.

By accident, one day, Bruno ate Barium Carbonate, which is a poison used for killing rats and mice. He fell into a fit of paralysis after consuming it and was taken to a veterinarian. Bruno was given an injection twice, which helped to revive him. He went back to being normal again and started eating like he usually did. On another occasion, Bruno drank a gallon of old engine oil which was used to destroy termites. Luckily this did not harm Bruno in any way. Bruno grew bigger day by day, but he was still sweet and playful like he was before.

The wife changed Bruno’s name to “Baba” which was a Hindi word for a small boy. However, soon they realised that Bruno was big and he could harm the children, so the narrator and his wife decided to chain him up. The narrator, along with his son, advised his wife to give away the bear to a zoo, but she did not give in easily. She finally gave in and sent Bruno to the zoo at Mysore. Everyone back home missed him, but they felt that it was necessary as they did not feel safe around him anymore.

The wife of the narrator missed Baba badly. She cried and also worried about how he was doing. She wrote letters to the person in charge of the zoo and asked him if Bruno was doing fine. She also asked her friends who were visiting Mysore if Bruno was doing fine there, but she received the same reply from them as the zookeeper that he was sad and did not eat well. One day the wife somehow convinced her husband to take her to Baba, but everyone predicted that the bear would not be able to recognise her.

To everyone’s surprise, Baba recognised his “mother”. She fed him his favourite food and stayed with him until it was time for the zoo to close. She cried and asked the zookeeper if they could take Bruno back. The wife got permission from the superintendent and brought him back home. The family got an island that was surrounded by a deep dry pit for Baba to live. He was provided with a box to sleep in, and his belongings were given to him. The wife of the narrator visited Bruno on the island. She would pat him with affection and make Baba sit in her lap for hours.

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